[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             SUPPORT COMPANIES THAT OPPOSE IMMIGRATION BAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, as we all learned on Sunday, Adolphus 
Busch came to America from Germany to make the king of beers. He didn't 
have a visa. He had a boat ticket and, of course, our country welcomed 
him. Well, not exactly.
  In the Super Bowl ad that aired, Mr. Busch was told: ``You are not 
welcome here. Go back home.''
  But then the young man eventually reaches St. Louis, meets Mr. 
Anheuser, and Budweiser--one of the most unmistakably American brands 
around the world--is born.
  All of us assumed that the President was watching the ad because it 
was, after all, the Super Bowl and it was broadcast by FOX network, his 
favorite. But I wonder if the message sank in.
  Mr. Speaker, to borrow a line from a different advertiser: I don't 
always drink beer, but when I do, I think the next time it will be a 
Bud.
  But then there was the little girl and her mom who walked to America 
from Latin America in the 84 Lumber ad. They didn't have a visa either 
because, well, we don't generally allow visas to people from Latin 
America who are seeking a better way of life here. If they did qualify 
for a visa, that little girl would be a grown-up adult by the time the 
visa was processed, given our broken immigration system. We learned 
that FOX television told the advertiser to edit out a border wall scene 
in the original version of the ad. I guess even FOX was worried about 
being attacked by the twitter in chief.
  I am not sure what 84 Lumber sells, but I think I am going to go out 
and buy some. Mr. Speaker, I haven't had a cup of coffee in 30 years. I 
don't drink the stuff. You can bet, however, I am going to go find my 
way into a Starbucks sometime soon because they just announced--in the 
midst of all of this political turmoil--that they will hire an 
additional 10,000 refugees.
  The CEO of Starbucks said in a letter recently: ``There are more than 
65 million citizens of the world recognized as refugees by the United 
Nations, and we are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five 
years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does 
business.''
  Apple and Netflix were among the companies to strongly oppose the 
President's ban of travel from certain Muslim countries and the halt to 
the refugee program. I know this because I googled it--and Google is 
another company that has stepped up as a corporate citizen to say that 
restricting legal immigration by visa holders is bad for their bottom 
line, bad for a nation built by immigrants, and bad for a nation that 
is a leader of and dependent on the world economy.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no more iconic world brand--no commercial 
symbol more associated with America and Americans around the world than 
Coca-Cola. Unlike coffee, Mr. Speaker, I enjoy a Coke and a smile 
several times a day. The company issued a statement recently that said: 
``Coca-Cola Co. is resolute in its commitment to diversity, fairness 
and inclusion, and we do not support this travel ban or any policy that 
is contrary to our core values and beliefs.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am not here to advertise products or to tell anybody 
what to shop for or who to buy from, but it is a pretty important 
moment in our history when America's largest companies are going out of 
their way to say that this President's anti-immigration agenda runs 
contrary to core values of their corporation and core values of the 
United States of America.
  When the CEO of Uber has to resign from a corporate advisory council 
because the President's policies are so toxic, you know there is some 
bad policy there. You see, the reality TV host in the White House who 
is all about burnishing his own brand, has damaged, Mr. Speaker, the 
most important brand in world history: the American brand, the Statue 
of Liberty, and the bald eagle.
  Mr. Speaker, American consumers who drive our economy, the men and 
women who open up businesses that feed our economy, and those who wake 
up every day to make the products, at this moment they are being asked 
to get involved and to make their choices be known.
  As the Starbucks CEO said recently: ``If there is any lesson to be 
learned over the last year, it's that your voice and your vote matter 
more than ever. We are all obligated to ensure our elected officials 
hear from us individually and collectively.''
  Here is my message: I am not handing over my money to people or 
companies that take that money and invest in hate, invest in bigotry, 
invest in discrimination; that destroy the image and the reputation of 
the United States of America. I am not putting one dollar into those 
companies. I am not going to use my money to support that.
  I guess I am going to find myself a Starbucks and buy whatever they 
have there that is not coffee, Mr. Speaker.

                          ____________________